


Show Me

by brunchywrites



Series: Brotherly Moments [2]
Category: DC Animated Universe
Genre: Brotherly Love, Dancing, Dick is Romani, Fluff, Other, Short, culture stuff, dc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 08:52:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13454760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brunchywrites/pseuds/brunchywrites
Summary: Dick and Damian are doing laundry when Damian wonders what his brother could honestly be listening to.





	Show Me

Damian’s been watching Grayson fold laundry for the better part of a half hour, not that he really minds watching him. It’s the silence that’s killing him, his brother is rarely ever silent but Grayson is listening to music through earbuds and not doing much talking. He’s been invested in whatever he’s listening too since they started doing the laundry in the first place.   
  
He watches his brother for a minute and a half and nearly jumps when Grayson hits his heel against the back of his hand from behind. Damian makes a face at him and finally catches his brother’s eye. Grayson makes a face right back at him and shrugs his shoulders. Great, they’re doing the silent communication thing now. Damian sighs and hops off his spot from the dryer, padding over to his older brother and literally pulling his phone out of his pocket.    
  
At first glance he doesn’t recognize the song at all, then he doesn’t recognize the language that the title is in. His brows furrow instinctively, it feels like something he should know but he doesn't.. He casts Grayson another look and he finally pulls one of the earbuds out of his ears.   
  
“You alright?”    
  


Damian nods, “I’m fine. But what are you listening too? I’ve never seen this language before.”    
  
Grayson smiles, “Well, it’s an old folk song from the circus. This is a pretty old recording of it actually, I found it on my mp3 player from waayy back when I was still Robin. It’s a song you’re supposed to dance to but listening can be fun. Here,” he passes the earbud to Damian and he takes it in his fingers, putting it in his ear.   
  
“For dancing?” He asks, adjusting the earbud again. Grayson must’ve had it paused while they were talking.    
  
“Yep, it’s an old Roma folk story put into song and you’re supposed to dance to it.”   
  
Damian blinks several times, he didn’t think Grayson was Romanian? He certainly didn’t hint at that or even look it. He’s met Romanian people before and that’s definitely not his big brother.    
  
“Romanian?”    
  


Grayson stares down at him with a blank expression, then suddenly lights up with the subtle shake of his head, “No, oh definitely not. At least not me. Here, basically for me.. Well Roma is like a race, specifically called Romani. It’s easy to get confused so it’s okay. We originated in India but migrated around Europe over time. A nomadic culture? Yeah, but for me specifically my family came from around Turkey and Hungary and slowly made their way through Spain and then America- eventually-”    
  
“In the circus?”    
  
“Well, you know that my family has been a traveling troupe since we started.”    
  


“Yeah, you kind of never stop talking about it,” he crosses his arms, “But what does this mean to you?”    
  
His brother pauses for a second, then shrugs his shoulders.    
  
“I mean, it was basically everything growing up. Before we moved locations we would have these huge celebrations. My parents taught me how to dance traditionally by the time I walked before acrobatics since it’s good floor practice. So during these parties we’d all gather around and dance. Everyone is like family there so all of our cultures blended together, see my Roma speaking wise is like a weird blend of Turkish Roma and also Latin based Roma. It’s very specific,” his face is brightening as he talks and Damian can’t help but lean into the conversation. He enjoys when Grayson gets like this. Especially recently, seeing him this happy? Felt like a treat.    
  
“Okay, I’m gonna play the song now. Just listen, alright?”    
  
“Of course, what else would I do?” Damian bristles slightly, crossing his arms over his chest.”    
  
Grayson raises a brow, “Critique, that’s what. Alright shshshshs, listening time,” he turns his phone back on and restarts the song.    
  
At first it’s just guitar with the sound of a horse’s hooves clopping, and the horse whinnies. He wonders if that was planned or not but that’s when the singing starts and Damian feels his breath catch in his chest at the soulfulness of it. The man’s voice is so romantic, even though he can’t understand the lyrics he really feels the song in him. The instrumentals get intense and more voices join in on the song, then there’s clapping. So many elements at once and all Damian can think of is the fact that the song is so very  _ Grayson.  _ He can feel the familial spirit through everything that’s going on. Especially when he hears laughter and the singers’ voices all blend together. It’s beautiful, but just as soon as it started it felt like it ended abruptly. Even if it was on a good note.    
  
Damian pulls the earbud out of his ear and looks down at it, then back at Grayson. His brother is giving him that eager look and Damian offers him the slightest hint of a smile. Truthfully, he loved the song, a lot.    
  
“That’s.. Very beautiful. In this recording, you said it’s old- were you in it?”    
  
“Yep, I was dancing right next to my mother and my father helped with the instruments. It was such a good night, she wore this gorgeous dress- I wish I could show you. I think you would love it.”    
  
He swallows, “How did the dancing go? If you enjoyed it so much, can you show me?”    
  


For a second he wonders if that was a mistake to ask, but Grayson nods and puts his phone down in the basket and pushes the folding table out of the way.    
  
“Definitely. Here, we can do it together. Alright, we’re gonna do the first step. Which is one of these bad boys,” Grayson pops his hip out and up, then does it again. “Like that.”    
  
Damian tries to mimic his brother’s movement but he can’t get his hip to pop up in quite the way his brother’s does. He does it again, and watches as Grayson also does it again. After five times he got the gist of it, and tried to pop it as high as he could.    
  
“What’s next?”    
  
“One of these, let’s just call them heel stomps,” Grayson takes half a step back and turns his ankle before practically slamming his heel into the floor hard enough to echo through the laundry room.    
  
“Doesn’t that hurt?” Damian asks, because he wasn’t sure if that sound was supposed to happen.    
  
His brother nods, “Eh, sort of- I mean don’t slam your heel down as hard as I did. Normally you wear heeled boots when you do these things,” he repeated the heel stomp and Damian took it as his cue to do the same thing, repeating the steps together while he watched his brother do it. “You’re picking this up a lot quicker than Bruce did.”    
  
“You got father to dance with you?”    
  
“Ohh yeah I did,” Grayson grins brightly, “It took forever to do it, and oh my god- when I was teaching him belly rolls and Alfred walked in. I don’t think I’ve seen him leave a room so fast. To be fair I put bells on Bruce’s waist. It probably was a sight to see.”    
  
Damian snorts, “You didn’t, there’s no way.”    
  
With a shrug Grayson continues, “I totally did, and did you know that he took ballet for like five years? I found some old VHS tapes of it, no wonder the guy’s so stiff! God, he couldn’t do this kind of stuff without like hours of practice. But look at you, you’re practically a natural.”    
  
“I’ll take that as a compliment, what comes after that?”    
  
“Butterfly wrists,” he moves his wrists in a fluttery motion above his head, then puts all three steps together. Hip pop, stomp, fluttering wrists and another pop in the opposite direction when his wrists reach his head. Damian does the same movements, once, then twice. Butterfly wrists are easier when he pictures them the way that Grayson describes them. “Alright, now we’re gonna do all of that but we’re gonna do a quick spin and you’re gonna stomp two times and kick up. Alright one, two, and, three.”    
  
They both dance together, and Damian does his best to follow his brother as best as he can. They do it faster and repeat it over and over again. It’s fun, a lot funner than he thought it was going to be. He gets used to the dancing, even good at it.    
  
Then Grayson grins, “We’re gonna add the heel touches now.”    
  
Together they do the dancing, Damian appreciates the fact that Grayson is patient. The heel touching is hard when he thinks of trying to do everything else. Especially changing feet so quickly and adding the quick spins. Before he knows it though, Grayson doesn’t have to remind him that they’re gonna be doing repeats and quickening the pace. At the end of the hour their heels hit the floor in time and Damian’s snap is loud enough to bounce off the walls just like his older brother’s.    
  
That’s when the singing starts, at first it’s low and Damian doesn’t realize it until he’s doing the butterfly wrists. He stops and watches his brother, forgetting to dance entirely at the way his brother sings. Its wondrous, his voice resonates with his dancing and he gets louder in just the right spots. Damian doesn’t understand a word, but starts clapping along anyways as Grayson goes faster and faster and adds in moves he hadn’t taught Damian. His hips twist and he kicks his leg up above his head and snaps into a spin where he squats down and rises back up, turning just so and ending with a flashy gesture.    
  
“Awe, dames, you stopped dancing.”    
  
Damian stops clapping his hands, “I couldn’t help it, your singing is unfortunately nice enough to force me to stop.”    
  
“You’re gonna make me blush,” Grayson laughs and runs his fingers through his hair, “We should recruit Bruce and do this together sometime.”    
  
“And show him that I am a superior dancer to him,” Damian adds.    
  
Grayson nods, “Exactly, it’ll be great. I swear I’ll make costumes and everything. You thought the Robin suit was flashy? Ohh brother..” he grins widely and Damian offers him a small smile back.    
  
He hadn’t thought this side of his brother would be so.. Great to see. 


End file.
